1. Freemasonry for Non-Masons

The Greeks called a place of public assembly agora; from this they built the word agoreuein, meaning speak, in the sense of addressing a public. When to this is added alias, meaning another, the compound gives us our "allegory," which is the speaking about one thing in the terms of something else.

In Masonry we have the allegory of Solomon's Temple, of a journey, of the legend of a builder, etc., in each case the acting and describing of one thing being intended to refer to some other thing. For example, the building of Solomon's Temple is described, not for the purpose of telling how that structure was erected, but to suggest men may work together in brotherliness at a common task.

In Latin apprehendre meant to lay hold of a thing in the sense of learning to understand it, the origin of our "apprehend." This became contracted into apprendre and was applied to a young man beginning to learn a trade. The latter term came into circulation among European languages and, through the Operative Masons, gave us our "apprentice," that is, one who is beginning to learn Masonry. An "Entered Apprentice" is one whose name has been entered in the books of the Lodge.

Leather aprons were worn centuries ago by stonemasons to protect their skin and clothing, as well as to carry their tools. Today, lambskin or cloth aprons, often elaborately decorated or embroidered, are worn by members as a symbolic connection to those medieval craftmen from which we derive our Masonic tradition.

The Greek for God was theos; when the prefix "a" was placed before it, we get the origin of "atheism," signifying a denial of the god, or gods. The word should be distinguished from "agnosticism," which means neither to affirm nor to deny but to remain in doubt; and from "infidel", which means that one does not believe some doctrine. Christians call Mohammedans "infidels" because they do not believe the Bible; Mohammendans call Christians "infidels" because they do not believe the Koran. Inasmuch as Masonry requires of a petitioner that he believe in God, the atheist is automatically excluded from the Fraternity.

Blue Lodge or Blue Freemasonry is a term often uses to denote the Craft Lodges operating the three degrees of freemasonry.

Blue is the color of the Ancient Craft Degrees, and it teaches the symbol of universal friendship and benevolence. Because blue represents heaven, each brother Mason should be equally considerate in his Masonic virtues of friendship and brotherly love.

The origin of the term may derive from the practice of English Freemasonry, and the masonic jurisdictions derived from it, which use blue as the colour of their regalia.

Tolerance for the beliefs and opinions of others.

Among Romans it was the custom for a man seeking office to wear a shining white robe. Since the name for such a color was candidus (whence our "candid"), the office seeker came to be called candidate.

In our ceremonies the custom is reversed: the candidate is clothed after his election instead of before.

The Greeks had a word, charisma, meaning a gift, and a number of words from the same root, variously suggesting rejoicing, gladness. Latin had a similar word, carus, meaning dear, possibly connected with amor, signifying love. From these roots came "grace", meaning a free, unbought gift, as in the theological phrase, "the grace of God", and "charity".

Strictly speaking, charity is an act done freely, and spontaneously out of friendship, not as a civic duty and grudgingly, as is sometimes the case in public charity. The Masonic use of the word is much nearer this original sense, for a Mason extends relief to a needy brother not as a duty but out of friendship.

The Charter of a Lodge is the official document , issued by Grand Lodge, authorising the membership to organize and constitute a Lodge.

Cowan is not a word we encounter much nowadays. It originated back in the days of mediaeval stonemasons. Building in stone required training and long and patient study, to understand how a building’s structure and stability depended on geometry. This understanding was known as a ‘secret art and hidden mystery’, not to be shared by the stonemasons with their untrained and unskilled fellow workers, known as cowans.

The word was also used to refer to dry stone wallers, who built walls by piling up field stones, a technique that is still used today in many parts of the UK. These workers did not use mortar and shaped stones (‘ashlars’) that were used by stonemasons to build churches, castles and cathedrals. Hence, among stonemasons, a cowan was an outsider who must be kept at a distance.

In Scotland, the word was used to refer to stonemasons who had never completed their apprenticeships, but who worked alongside qualified stonemasons. They were the ‘cowboy builders’ of their time.